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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

31 Jan 2012
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 11 Feb 2012, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvtagg.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Randy Bryson on FAMILYSEARCH SCANNING - THE STORY OF OPENING THE GRANITE MOUNTAIN RECORDS VAULT. Since 1938 the Genealogical Society of Utah, which is now part of FamilySearch, has been capturing on film the records of the world and storing that film in the Granite Mountain Records Vault. In the past decade, modern technology and dedicated engineers have developed a means to convert those images on film to images on the Internet. This presentation will provide insight into how the images are being converted, some of the incredible challenges that have been overcome, and how today we experience one of the most prolific efforts in the world to make the records of our ancestors available to a world-wide population. Randy Bryson is currently an Area Family History Advisor in the Utah South Area of the LDS Church and is a past Family History Center Director, as well as formerly serving as 1st Counselor in the Lehi Utah Stake Presidency with assignment over Temple and Family History work. Also, professionally working for the Family History Department, he has had experience in the development and use of FamilySearch.org, newFamilySearch, Scanning, Indexing, and older products such as Personal Ancestral File (PAF), the Pedigree Resource File (PRF), and other systems. He now works to use the Church's technology to provide FamilySearch to the homes of members and nonmembers alike. Brother Bryson lives in Lehi, Utah with his beautiful wife, Madge, also an Area Family History Adviser. They have two married daughters and three married sons with twelve grandchildren in Utah, Idaho and Alabama.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Using the U.S. Census, by Marilyn Thomsen; (2) Using Ancestry's Family Trees, by Kathy Magleby; (3) Q&A on Scanning Records in the Granite Vault; (4) Video of last month's main presentation: The Changing Face of Family History Research, by Karen Clifford; (5) Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom & Finn Hansen; (6) RootsMagic, by Bruce Buzbee; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; and (8) Legacy, by Dean Bennett.

All meetings of the Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

4 Jan 2012
Journalists, please run this as a news item and/or in your calendar of events. Ward newsletter editors, please include parts of the first two paragraphs, and mention that there are classes for everyone. Email me, if you need further information. Thanks.
Don Snow

UTAH VALLEY TECHNOLOGY AND GENEALOGY GROUP MEETING (UVTAGG)
The next regular, second-Saturday-of-the-month meeting of the Utah Valley Technology and Genealogy Group - UVTAGG (Formerly the Utah Valley PAF Users Group - UVPAFUG) will be on Saturday, 14 Jan 2012, from 9 am to noon in the LDS "Red Chapel", 4050 North Timpview Drive (650 East), Provo. Information about the Group, main presentations, classes, and class notes are available on their website http://uvtagg.org and the press releases are at http://blog.uvtagg.org .

The main presentation for this meeting will be by Karen Clifford on THE CHANGING PACE OF FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH. How do you stay current with your own family genealogy when the tools around you are constantly changing? Never before has technology helped so many so fast--and yet the ardent genealogist can feel torn between keeping up with technological changes or furthering their genealogy research. You don't have to choose one over the other. Start the New Year by applying a few tools that will organize your efforts, save you time, and energize your research in 2012. Karen Clifford is a Midwestern and Southern States Accredited Genealogist professional. She develops curriculum and teaches multiple genealogy course at Salt Lake Community College (UT) and Monterey Peninsula College (CA). She has moved to Provo since it is now possible to teach all her classes online. She has published several textbooks in genealogy including The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Genealogy, the Internet, and Your Genealogy Computer Program (2nd edition, 2011, Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore, MD); 2) Digging Deeper: Understanding Pre-1805 Genealogy Record Groups (2011 - see the GRA website); and 3) Becoming an Accredited Genealogist (Ancestry.com). She is President/CEO of Genealogy Research Associates, Inc. with website www.GRAonline.com . She served 12 years as director of the local FHC in Monterey, CA; 10 years on the board of the Federation of Genealogical Societies; 12 years as an ICAPGen Commissioner; on the program committee for the 2011 RootsTech Conference; and currently chairs the ICAPGen Test Development Committee. Her husband Ray Clifford is Associate Dean of the BYU College of Humanities and Director of the Languages Center.

Following the main presentation there will be several classes about family history and technology with something for everyone at any level of expertise. The teachers and classes presently scheduled for this meeting are as follows: (1) Utah Research Beyond LDS Records, by Laurie Castillo; (2) Using Google Maps, by Ron Snowden; (3) Using Facebook as a Family History Research Tool, by Stephan Ehat; (4) Personalized Help, by Don Engstrom &amp; Finn Hansen (5) Q&amp;A: on The Changing Pace of Family History Research, by Karen Clifford; (6) Video of last time's main prsentation: The Perfect Social Media: Family History and Genealogy, by Claire Brisson-Banks; (7) Ancestral Quest, by Gaylon Findlay; (8) Legacy 7.5, by Dean Bennett; and (9) RootsMagic 5, by Bruce Buzbee.

All meetings of the Group are open to the public whether members of the Group or not. The Group has the goal of helping individuals use technology to further their family history and there are usually 100-125 attending the monthly meetings on the second Saturdays. The officers are Gerhard Ruf, President; Laurie Castillo, 1st VP; Don Snow, 2nd VP; Liz Kennington, Newsletter Editor; Renee Zamora, Secretary; Kay Baker, Gerry Eliason, and Don Engstrom working with finances and membership; and Bruce Merrill and Marie Andersen working with the DVD Library. Several of these will be there to answer questions, help with membership, distribute the current issue of the monthly newsletter TAGGology, and check out DVDs of past presentations and classes to members of the group. Information about the Group, presentations, classes, and class notes can be found at the websites mentioned above. For further information contact President Gerhard Ruf at pres@uvtagg.org (801-225-6106) or 1st VP Laurie Castillo at laurie@everythingisrelative.net, or 2nd VP Don Snow at snowd@math.byu.edu.